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Evelyn Lau
Evelyn Lau (born July 2, 1971) is a Canadian poet and novelist. Life Lau was born in Vancouver, British Columbia to Chinese-Canadian parents, who intended for her to eventually become a doctor. Her parents' ambitions for her were wholly irreconcilable with her own; consequently, her home and school lives were desperately unhappy.Evelyn Lau, Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Foundation - Dominion Institute, Web, July 2, 2012. Lau began publishing poetry at the age of 12; her creative efforts helped her escape the pressure of home and school. In 1985, at age 14, Lau left home and spent the next several years living in Vancouver as a homeless person, sleeping mainly in shelters, in friends' homes, and on the street. She also became involved in prostitution and drug abuse. Despite the chaos of her first two years' independence, she submitted a great deal of poetry to journals and received some recognition. A diary she kept at the time was published in 1989 as Runaway: Diary of a street kid. The book was a critical and commercial success; Lau received praise for frankly chronicling her relationships with manipulative older men, the life and habits of a group of anarchists with whom she stayed immediately after leaving home, her experiences with a couple from Boston who smuggled her into the United States, her abuse of various drugs, and her relationship with British Columbia's child support services. It was made into a 1993 movie, The Diary of Evelyn Lau, which starred Korean-Canadian actress Sandra Oh. Lau had a well-publicized romantic relationship with University of Victoria creative writing professor and author W.P. Kinsella, more than 30 years her senior, which led to the filing of a libel case against her after she wrote a personal essay on the relationship (the essay, "Me and W.P.", won a Western Magazine Award for Human Experience, and was shortlisted for the Gold Award for Best Article).Evelyn Lau, English-Canadian Writers, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Athabasca University, Web, July 2, 2012. Lau has also worked as writer in residence at University of British Columbia, Kwantlen University and Vancouver Community College. She lives in Vancouver, where she freelances as a manuscript consultant in Simon Fraser University's Writing and Publishing Program. Recognition Her work in magazines won 4 Western Magazine Awards and a National Magazine Award; she also received the Air Canada Award, the Vantage Women of Originality Award, the ACWW Community Builders Award, and the Mayor's Arts Award for Literary Arts. Her poems were selected for inclusion in Best American Poetry (1992) and Best Canadian Poetry (2009, 2010, 2011). On Oct. 14, 2011, Lau was named the poet laureate for the city of Vancouver, the 3rd poet to hold this honorary position. Her plan is to offer ‘poet-in-residence consultations with aspiring poets’. Publications Poetry *''You Are Not Who You Claim''. Victoria, BC: Porcépic Books, 1990. *''Oedipal Dreams''. Victoria, BC: Beach Holme, 1992. *''In the House of Slaves''. Toronto: Gutter Press, 1994. *''Treble''. Vancouver: Polestar, 2005. *''Living Under Plastic''. Fernie, BC: Oolichan Books, 2010.Lau, Evelyn, Asian Heritage in Canada, Ryerson University Library and Archives, Ryerson.ca, Web, July 2, 2012. Novel *''Other Women''. Toronto: Random House, 1995. Short fiction *''Fresh Girls, and other stories''. Toronto: HarperCollins, 1993. *''Choose Me: Stories''. Toronto: Doubleday, 1999. Non-fiction *''Runaway: Diary of a street kid''. Toronto: HarperCollins, 1989. *''Inside Out: Reflection on a life so far''. Toronto: Doubleday, 2001. Anthologized *"Father Figures", in Desire in Seven Voices (edited by Lorna Crozier). Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1999, 43-61. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Athabasca University.Bibliography of Works by Evelyn Lau, English-Canadian Writers, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Athabasca University, Web, July 2, 2012.. See also *Asian-Canadian poets *List of Canadian poets References Notes External links ;Poems *"The Mall" *Fiercely Awake: Four poems by Evelyn Lau. ;Prose *Evelyn Lau at Geist.com ;Books *Lau, Evelyn, at Asian Heritage in Canada ;Audio / video *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJWAOpkhg1s Four Poems from Treble] ;Books *Evelyn Lau at Amazon.com ;About *Evelyn Lau in the Canadian Encyclopedia *Lau, Evelyn at ABC Bookworld Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian poets Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent Category:Canadian women writers Category:Homeless people Category:Writers from Vancouver Category:Canadian writers of Asian descent Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:21st-century poets Category:21st-century women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Poets laureate of Vancouver Category:Woman poets